Along Sijseel castle domains

Appointment at the village church of Sijsele (V), part of the municipality of Damme. This neo-Gothic Sint-Martinus church dates from 1897. With your back to the church, walk to the left along the N9 and after 150 m to the left again into the Kerkweg. Ignore the Kruisstraat on the right and turn right 100 m further, still in the Kerkweg. On the right is the military domain of the 51st Logistics Battalion and on the left you can see the towers of Ten Torre Castle above the treetops. At the end of the Kerkweg you cross the asphalt road and walk past the chapel to the right in a beautiful beech avenue. At the first crossroads you turn left, now in a lane of Canada poplars. After 300 m, walk right into the Vossenberg. This takes you after more than 300 m past an old railway bed, now a walking cycle path, back to the N9. Carefully cross the road and continue straight on in a wide lane, which later becomes a narrower path. At the asphalt road, choose left. The beautiful forest of Scots pine and larch on your right is not accessible. At the end of the Antwerpse Heerweg you step a few meters further to the right and you come to an entrance gate of the castle of Male 1 . The counts of Flanders had a hunting lodge here since the 12th century and Philips the Bold had the castle completely renovated in 1390. The Sisters of St. Trudo Abbey bought Male Castle in 1952 and restored its medieval silhouette. Turn left opposite the entrance gate, cross the N9 again (careful!) and walk straight ahead on a narrow cobblestone road, in a long, straight beech lane to Domein Rijckevelde. After just over a kilometer you will arrive at the neo-Gothic castle of Rijckevelde 2 , built in 1913 and an International and European Training Center since the 1950s. The domain is very quietly located, surrounded by beautiful avenues and extensive forests and was chosen as the most beautiful spot during the Pasar Neighbor Nature campaign. Go to the right past the castle to the other side of the beautiful pond. Here you can see the remains of a fortified farm 3 from the 17th century on the right. Walk back around the pond and take the narrow path to the right at the height of the castle. After 150 m there is a metal garden fence on the left. Walk to the left before and past the fence and after another 150 m to the right. Here is the entrance to a beautiful nature educational botanical garden 4 , with the typical landscape elements and biotopes of the poor sandy soils that characterize the region. Along a walking path of almost one and a half kilometers and 40 information boards (also for the blind) you will pass a roadside, land dune, heath, pools, a standard orchard, a field, a forest edge, deciduous forest and coniferous forest. When you leave the garden, turn right and after 50 m at the fork, turn right again. After 75 m do not walk further along the fence, but continue straight ahead in a narrow forest path. When you leave the forest you come to a wide paved road. After 100 m at the T-junction, turn right and ignore the field road immediately to the left. The dirt road soon curves to the left and brings you to an asphalt road. Straight ahead. On the right is the entrance to the Oedelem castle Ten Torre 5 from around 1845. Continue walking in the Zomerstraat West, with a beautiful, white long-gable farm on the left. After 300 m take the Meibosweg on the left. To the right is the municipal domain Meibosvijver, with fish ponds and the clubhouse of the local fishing club. Herons are not wanted here, hence the numerous thin wires that are stretched over the pond. About half a kilometer to the N9 and then back to the right to the starting point.